These songs were born between 1996 and 1997 while I was living at Anjalankoski, the village of Inkeroinen, where I wrote poems and listened to Gainsbourg late at night. The collection of these songs was originally released as a cassette by Culture organisation KuuMaa. Soon after this I began my first public performances as a singer/songwriter in my hometown Savonlinna. This was about a year before the formation of my Valumo orchestra. With the birth of new songs Raastinlauluja was left to fade in their own mist, until in spring 2002 we dug the old 4-track master tapes out of their dusty cardboard box and mastered them to a modern digital format. The patina of time has been cleaned up a bit, otherwise Raastinlauluja sounds as it used to... in all it's hollow beauty. Although only five years has passed I can still be proud of this album, and greatfull to Sami for his sincere enthusiasm which we can thank for this re-release. Enjoy.